Breaking Down Political Media (the rhetoric point of view)
Just recently I came across various articles in which the media promoted every Presidential candidate and explained the actions they took to win over certain states. After carefully analyzing each article I came to the realization that most everyone comes to, none of the candidates are perfect, but one is definitely better than the rest. I began to analyse the campaign, the articles, and the media displaying each of these individual candidates. One of these stood out more to me than the others ” Donald Trump Delivers a Flurry of Flattery to Iowans to Try to Seal the Deal”. This article portrays rhetoric qualities in about everything that that was written. Rhetoric is the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing.This article just like the rest of of them gives us this framed idea that Donald Trump is favored in Iowa for the things that he has promised them. that also interests me because Donald Trump himself may possibly be displaying and reaching out to his audience in the same way the author of the article is reaching out to his. Rhetoric is important when reaching out to a specific group of people. Rhetoric is, for lack of a better word, “playing” the game correctly in favor of your audience.
The rhetorical situation in this case, is the public appearance and speech that Donald Trump has given to the residents of Iowa. Whether or not this presidential candidate truly means and holds the promises that he makes, his promises must be relevant to the issues in Iowa. For example, Donald trump has promised to get Medicare to negotiate the prices in prescription drugs. That being a large issue in Iowa earns Trump points in the eyes of the audience. The issues that he decides to address is what one would call an exigence. The exigence is the demands or issues that allowed the author to address them in the first place. For example, there are many nativists in Iowa who are overwhelmed and are concerned with the immigration issues in the country. The exigence is the immigration issue, and Donald Trump directly addresses the issue with a solution. Within rhetorical situations, there are constraints as well. A constraint is a limitation that does not allow the author from going any farther than needed or any farther than allowed. In this case with my first example “Over the last few days, Donald J. Trump has proposed having Medicare negotiate lower prescription drug prices…”(Kaplan) there is a minor constraint. He can not promise lower prices, so he therefore makes his choice of words very carefully and uses “negotiation”. Therefore if it does not follow through he is not to blame because lower prices was never promised. It is a very smart way of gaining the trust of your audience, but not failing them either.
A large component of rhetoric is the rhetorical triangle. This triangle is made up of the three Grecian components, logos pathos and ethos. Logos is the form in addressing something through principles, reason and judgement. The things you believe are morally correct depending on your knowledge of it. Ethos is the form of patterns such as, your beliefs, like religion and traditions. Pathos is an emotional aspect, the way you get to those people who are “suckers” for the things that can make them cry. Pathos is used through pity and guilt. You must once again play to your intended audience. For example, in the article the author writes ” Like the salesman he is, he finds ways to flatter potential customers.”(Kaplan). This is true, Donald Trump is a smart an when it comes to reaching out his intended audience. He is a business man who uses rhetoric to win the hearts of his audience. Just like the author who displays through his work that he seems indifferent to Donald Trump’s success but is also leaning towards seeing his strategies to fool us. He writes in a way to reach out to his readers to take a second look at Donald Trump and then make up your minds about him. This is true about all candidates, they will use rhetoric to win the hearts of the public. The truth is because everyone is so good at playing the game, we will never truly know who means it the most. It is just the fact of who plays it better.
Damon winter/ The New York Times
This is another example of rhetoric. In order to win over his audience, Donald trump presents himself in a way he knows his audience will approve and trust in him more. he is well dressed and presentable. Who wouldnt trust a man who takes the time to present himself nicely and neatly. You wouldnt trust a man who looks like he just got out of bed and rushed over to give a speech. Another aspect, he is accompanied by his wife. She must fit in the same type of framing that he displays, the clean sophisticated look. He also takes the time to care for his fans and the people he speaks to. If you dont take the time to get to know your intended audience you have already lost them because you have to understand them to gain their trust.
Rhetoric is a part of the everyday American consumer culture. It is what allows authors to directly affect their intended audience in a way that will real them in and make them believe what the author is portraying. The next time you see a commercial, article, or picture promoting something, try breaking it down and looking at it through a rhetors eyes. It will change your mind.
Haberman, Maggie, and Thomas Kaplan. “Donald Trump Delivers a Flurry of Flattery to Iowans to Try to Seal the Deal.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 31 Jan. 2016. Web. 01 Feb. 2016.
